


Thin Line

by sobsicles



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Arguing, Enemy Lovers, Jace Does Not Translate His Feelings Well, Love/Hate, M/M, Set In No Specific Time Frame, Simon Less So In This One, Snapshots Of Collective Moments, Two Dudes Who Cant Leave Each Other Alone, except not really, they are both idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 10:25:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19249285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sobsicles/pseuds/sobsicles
Summary: Simon huffs. “Where are you going?”“Away from you.”“Good! And don't come back!”Jace throws him one last look, one full of burning fury, and snatches the door open. “Oh, trust me, I'm not having anything to do with you ever again!”Jace means that.Jace does not mean that.Two days later, he knocks on Simon's door. The moment it opens, he pushes his way in and crashes his mouth into Simon's, kicking the door shut with his foot.~~~“I don't hate him.”“No, you don't.”“I want to,” Jace mutters sullenly.Clary sighs softly. “Oh Jace, you're so bad with these things. You'll get it right eventually.”“And if I don't?” Jace asks, swallowing thickly and staring at her with a frown.“Well, it's a good thing that Simon hates you as much as you hate him, isn't it?”





	Thin Line

**Author's Note:**

> Is the title cliche? Yes. Do I care? No. 
> 
> There is a thin line between Love and Hate; Jace and Simon trample all over it.

The screaming match ends as quickly as it started. 

 

Simon is angrier than Jace has ever seen, eyes blazing, his arms crossed over his chest, looking seconds from imploding on himself in his fury. Jace feels it too, the spike of bitterness in his throat, the heat skittering under his skin like pin-pricks, the everpresent burning rage in his chest. They glare at each other in utter silence, jaws clenched, bodies stiff, tension crowding them. 

 

Jace stares at Simon and thinks,  _ I don't need this.  _

 

“Fine,” Jace snaps harshly, whirling around to grab his leather jacket. 

 

Simon huffs. “Where are you going?” 

 

“Away from  _ you.”  _

 

“Good! And don't come back!” 

 

Jace throws him one last look, one full of burning fury, and snatches the door open. “Oh, trust me, I'm not having anything to do with you  _ ever again!”  _

 

Jace means that. 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


Jace does not mean that. 

 

Two days later, he knocks on Simon's door. The moment it opens, he pushes his way in and crashes his mouth into Simon's, kicking the door shut with his foot. Simon fights him all of two seconds before he groans and cards his fingers into Jace's hair to drag him closer. 

 

Jace's whole body relaxes and shudders as they stumble towards Simon's bedroom. They collide into multiple pieces of furniture on the way, knocking things over, but Jace doesn't even notice. They pull at clothes roughly, scratching and biting at skin, yanking at each other to get to the bed. Cloth rips, moans break free, and the sound of the bed creaking is like music to Jace's ears. 

 

After, Simon says, “Knew you'd come back.” 

 

Jace grunts. “Shut up, Simon.” 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


Clary stares at him. 

 

“You two are ridiculous,” she informs him. 

 

“I hate him,” Jace replies simply, shrugging as he leans back in his chair. 

 

Clary shakes her head. “Jace, he's my  _ best friend.  _ And you? You're the guy who I can see right through. So, next time you try to lie to me, think twice.” 

 

Jace frowns. “I'm not lying?”

 

“Uh huh. So, what, you two just… stay in this weird cycle because you hate each other?” 

 

“It's not a weird cycle.” 

 

Clary arches an eyebrow. And okay, Jace guesses it's a little weird. Well, more than a little. It's not like he'd planned it or anything. He certainly doesn't  _ want  _ it; he just… can't stop. 

 

It started early, even back before Clary laid eyes on Maia and couldn't look away. Back then, Jace had wanted Clary, just as Simon did, and they'd hated each other for it. One misstep and they'd fueled that hatred into sex; it was _ supposed _ to be a one time thing, just a mishap that happened because they couldn't fight like they truly wanted to. Instead, they'd both chased after Clary and had sex all the while, never once faltering in hating each other. 

 

Then, Maia. 

 

Clary had looked at Maia and fell for her instantly, quite literally. She'd tripped and cursed up a storm, landing right into Maia's arms. They'd blinked at each other, then smiled slow and soft, and Jace had watched as the girl he'd been chasing after left him in the dust for the girl he'd vaguely considered a friend. Beside him, Simon had been going through the very same thing. 

 

They'd had sex that night, just for solidarity. 

 

Things had worked out, of course. Maia and Clary are sickening at the best of times, very in love, and Jace aches with how happy he is for them. Simon, if his dopey smiles are anything to go by, feels much the same. Well,  _ now.  _ It had taken an adjustment period, lots of sex with each other, and seeing Clary bawl her eyes out when Maia got hurt - Jace and Simon had gotten with the Maia and Clary program pretty quickly after that. 

 

Without Clary as a buffer and an excuse, their hate-sex had lulled. Except, you know, Jace still hated Simon, so why not, right? When he'd explained this to Simon, he'd gotten some form of an agreement in the shape of a moan echoing into his mouth as they released their… hatred. 

 

The  _ problem  _ is that they don't exactly have a reason to hate each other, which means that they don't have a reason to have sex, and Jace wants to keep doing that. It makes the situation very hard. 

 

Clary sighs. “You two are  _ ridiculous.”  _

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


“Can't you just, I dunno, go  _ away?”  _

 

Jace rolls his eyes. “You act like I want to be anywhere near you as it is.” 

 

Simon huffs and kicks his chair hard, shoving Jace away from him. Jace scowls as he scoots his chair closer to Alec, throwing Simon a glare for good measure. Now that there's enough space between them, they go back to paying attention. 

 

Alec just sighs. “We're actually done here.” 

 

“Great,” Simon chirps, popping up from his chair with a bright smile. “Well, I have places to be, people to do. Clary, call me later, okay?” 

 

“Sure thing,” Clary replies loftily, smiling in open amusement, her eyes dancing. 

 

Jace sits up straight, narrowing his eyes at Simon in suspicion. “Where are you going?” 

 

“None of your business.” Simon arches an eyebrow at him. “Like I said-” 

 

“Yeah, I heard what you said.” 

 

“Right.” 

 

Jace nearly launches out of his chair to grasp Simon's wrist as he starts to walk by. “So, what, you're too busy to help us with this?” 

 

“Like you need my help.” Simon snorts and wrenches his wrist from Jace's grip. “But if you'd been paying attention, you'd know that we don't actually start until tomorrow.” 

 

“And what are you doing tonight?” Jace asks scathingly, eyeing Simon in disdain, under the impression that Simon doesn't  _ do  _ things. 

 

Or people. 

 

Or  _ other  _ people. 

 

Simon purses his lips. “Depends.” 

 

“On?” 

 

“Who shows up first.” 

 

With that, Simon turns around and walks out the door. Jace stares at his retreating back, jaw clenched, and it takes an act of god for him to force his eyes back to his group of friends. Clary just shakes her head, Alec looks as if he pities him a bit, Magnus looks amused, and Izzy just sighs. Jace lasts about five minutes. 

 

His friends - horrible people, really - laugh as he shoves himself from his chair and stomps out. 

 

Simon, too, laughs at him when he shows up at his door - out of everyone, he's the worst. Jace swallows his teasing, digging his fingers into Simon's hips and walking him back to the couch, lowering himself down into Simon's lap with precision. He rides him hard and perfect, nearly makes Simon cry when he finds release, and Jace sucks bruises into his skin harshly and tells himself they mean nothing. 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


“Well, if you hate him, then leave him alone.” 

 

Jace stares at Alec with a frown. Alec just crosses his arms, arching his eyebrows in challenge, waiting. Jace opens his mouth, closes it, says nothing. His mind is completely blank, a weird sensation squirming in his chest, and it takes him an embarrassingly long time to actually reply. 

 

“I can do that.” 

 

“Oh?” Alec asks lightly, lips twitching. 

 

Jace shrugs. “Yeah, why not? I hate him, so it'll be a relief, honestly.” 

 

“Uh huh,” Alec says doubtfully. 

 

Jace rolls his eyes and vows not touch Simon ever again. It'll be easy, actually. It's fairly simple to stay away from him, plus Jace doesn't want to be around him anyway. Alec just sighs; he does that a lot. 

 

Two hours later when Simon shows up in his room, Jace breaks his vow without a second thought. 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


Jace can't fucking  _ stand  _ Simon. He reaches up and yanks his shirt on, snarling out a curse while Simon throws his pants at him with force. Jace shoves himself into his clothes and stomps out of Simon's apartment without looking back. 

 

_ This time,  _ he thinks,  _ this time was it.  _

 

Jace is done with Simon. He's just so…  _ annoying.  _ He jokes too much, talks too much, smiles too much. He's the opposite of Jace, far too different, and every time he talks, he starts an argument. They can't agree on  _ anything,  _ besides how much they hate each other… and how much they like having sex with each other. It's so  _ stupid.  _

 

Jace goes to the bar, intending to drink and brood and complain to Maia. It does not work out that way. 

 

The thing about it is, whether Jace likes it or not, Simon  _ is  _ cared about and loved by the people that Jace cares about and loves. So, when he's on his third drink and halfway into his tangent about Simon's hair - seriously, why is his hair like  _ that,  _ fluffy and soft and stupid, just like  _ Simon  _ \- and a man sits beside him with a laugh, Jace immediately bristles. 

 

Just as he'd worried, the man says, “Yeah, I know who you're talking about. That kid who comes in and performs here sometimes, right?” 

 

Maia purses her lips and walks away. 

 

Jace narrows his eyes. “Yeah, that's the one. You know him? What's your name?” 

 

“Dale,” the man replies. “I don't know him all that well. He tried to talk my ear off, wouldn't shut up. Can't stand him.” 

 

“Is that so?” Jace asks, sitting his drink down and turning in his seat to regard this…  _ Dale.  _

 

“Oh, yeah,” Dale tells him, bobbing his head and waving Maia over. He's talking before she even makes it over. “The kid's a major dork, kinda too stupid for his own good. He's clearly one of those hopeless types, doesn't have friends, probably doesn't have much of a life either. I'd feel bad for him if he wasn't so-  _ ouch!  _ What the fuck, man!” 

 

Jace has Dale's face shoved down and smooshed against the bar before he can think twice. He presses his elbow to the back of Dale's neck and leans down to glare at him. “You should think twice before going and talking shit about people,  _ Dale.”  _

 

“What?” Dale squirms beneath his hands, coughing in discomfort. “You were the one who- I thought you hated the guy!” 

 

“Oh, I do,” Jace replies easily. “But I'm the only one who gets to, got it? Next time he's here, you're going to walk right up to him and praise him until you look too stupid to do anything else but walk away. If you don't, I'll find you and toss your tongue at his feet for adequate karma. Are we clear?” 

 

Dale sputters and shifts awkwardly. “Fine, fine! I didn't mean anything by it, honest!” 

 

“Jace,” Maia says with a sigh, leaning on the counter and looking at Dale in pity, “let the poor man go.” 

 

Jace smirks and lightly pats Dale's cheek as he backs off. “You remember what I said, okay?” 

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Dale mutters, eyes wide as he stumbles back and rushes towards the door. 

 

Maia shakes her head at him. “You're something else, Jace. Clary's right. Ridiculous.” 

 

“What?” Jace replies, lips curling up as he attempts to adopt an innocent expression. He holds his hands up. “I was just putting an asshole in his place.” 

 

“Too bad you can't do that to yourself,” Maia says, arching an eyebrow before sauntering off. 

 

Jace laughs quietly and finishes his drink. And though he's already had sex once tonight, he's keyed up all over again. Riding on the high of handling Dale, Jace goes right back to Simon's. 

 

Simon helps him strip out of the very pants he'd thrown at him. 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


“What do you mean  _ gone?”  _

 

Jace can't stop pacing, an energy thrumming through his body that makes him feel like he's going to burst out of his skin. Gone.  _ Gone?  _ Clary looks just as stressed as Jace feels, which she has all rights to. Her best friend is missing. 

 

Alec crosses his arms. “We'll find him.” 

 

“Don't worry,” Magnus says, leaning into Alec's side with a grim smile, “whoever took him - if someone has - will rue the day that they did.” 

 

Jace feels like he's going to be sick, but that just has to be because of the worry that's gripping the small group of people surrounding him. He clenches his fists, twists his fingers, chews his lips. He's restless. Simon is somewhere out there and Jace- well, Jace wants to get him back for his friends. That's all. 

 

As they day drags by with no sign of Simon, Jace gets more and more affected by their concern. They're softer with it, all wide eyes and urgent voices, so it translates to anger for Jace - he wants to punch something. When they get a lead that ends up being nothing, Jace does punch something; Magnus waves off the hole in his wall distractedly. 

 

Izzy's heels click when she walks, Jace yells at her to take the damn things off. She argues back and Alec has to separate them. Jace yells at him too for the sympathy in his eyes, like Jace is the one who's losing someone. Maia growls at him until he shuts up and stomps in the kitchen to grip the edges of the sink. He breathes and tells himself that their obvious worry and stress can be felt through the whole of Magnus’ apartment. 

 

It's just after midnight when they find him. 

 

Simon is perfectly fine, just a little shaken up, and Clary hugs him for a very long time. Jace stares at him, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, and he can't tear his eyes away. 

 

“You look like shit,” Simon tells him after everyone else has greeted him, a teasing glint in his eyes. 

 

“I hate you,” Jace spits, unbridled anger suddenly rocking him so hard that he can't see past it for a moment. “You- you're literally the worst thing that has  _ ever  _ happened to me.”

 

Simon rolls his eyes. “Yeah, that's just the greeting I wanted after being  _ kidnapped.  _ Thanks so much, Jace. Glad to see that things are normal.” 

 

The problem is… they're  _ not.  _

 

“Shut up,” Jace growls and stomps out, slamming the door shut behind him. 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


“Figured it out yet?” 

 

Jace huffs a short laugh. “Why couldn't we have been in love? I would treat you so well.” 

 

“I'm telling Maia you said that,” Clary teases, her eyes softening. “So, you  _ have  _ worked it out.” 

 

“I don't hate him.” 

 

“No, you don't.” 

 

“I want to,” Jace mutters sullenly. 

 

Clary sighs softly. “Oh Jace, you're so bad with these things. You'll get it right eventually.” 

 

“And if I don't?” Jace asks, swallowing thickly and staring at her with a frown. 

 

“Well, it's a good thing that Simon hates you as much as you hate him, isn't it?” 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


Simon opens his door with a sigh, then his eyes brighten, even as faint confusion crosses over his face. He braces himself like he always does, seeming sure that Jace is going to attack him mouth-first. But that's not why Jace is here. 

 

“I thought you were avoiding me,” Simon says sarcastically, eyeing him suspiciously. 

 

“I was.” Jace takes a deep breath. “Can I come in?” 

 

“Since when do you ask?” 

 

“I'm not here to- for  _ that.  _ I want to… talk.” 

 

Simon's lips tip down. “Come in.” 

 

Jace brushes past Simon, clearing his throat as he paces into the living room. He fidgets, his heart thundering in his ears, mind racing with endless possibilities of how this can go - each possibility is worse than the last. Simon watches him with a guarded expression, arms crossing. 

 

“I don't want to argue,” Jace starts. 

 

“Good luck,” Simon retorts with a snort. 

 

Jace's eyes sink closed. “I don't hate you.” 

 

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Jace is almost terrified to open his eyes. He doesn't want to come back to the reality that waits for him, the one where Simon is looking at him in disgust. Except, when he does open his eyes, Simon is just staring at him. 

 

“I know.” 

 

“You know? Wait, what do you know exactly?” 

 

Simon sighs. “I know that we argue a lot, but we also enjoy bickering. I know that you get annoyed with me easily, but you're also fond of me. I know that you treat sex with me like it means nothing, but you get jealous at the thought of me doing it with anyone else. I know you don't understand what love is, but you love me anyway.” 

 

Jace wants to sink into the ground and die. Simon just looks at him patiently, waiting without saying anything else. Jace almost can't breathe, certainly can't move; he feels as if he's suddenly been turned to stone, trapped and encased in this horrifying moment forever. 

 

The fact of the matter is… it's  _ true.  _

 

Jace doesn't know how to love someone, not like this. He hadn't known he was capable. He'd wanted to try with Clary, but the moment that ship sailed, he'd been as relieved as he was disappointed. With Simon, he'd done it without even  _ trying.  _

 

He just loves him, just like that, and he's so fucking terrible at it that he'd convinced himself it was hate. 

 

He's so messed up. 

 

“I hate it,” Jace croaks out, because he does. 

 

Simon's lips twitch. “Me too.” 

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


Jace glares at Simon as they slam the door shut and sit on either side of the bed. They don't say anything, their last screaming match hanging in the air between them. Simon leans against his pillows, scowling, crossing his arms. Jace mirrors him on his side, not budging an inch. 

 

They have their rules. The one about not going to bed mad isn't exactly working out right now; Jace figures they just won't sleep tonight. 

 

Then, Simon snaps, “I love you, asshole.” 

 

And like magic, Jace's anger all but melts away. His arms fall from his chest and his hands land in his lap, fingers twisting together. He immediately feels bad for his part in the argument. Slowly, hesitantly, he reaches one hand over and presses it against Simon's, stomach squirming when their fingers interlock and Simon's hand stays limp. 

 

“I love you too,” Jace says quietly, swallowing. 

 

Simon heaves a sigh, whole body relaxing. He squeezes Jace's hand lightly, turning their hands to a more comfortable position. Jace's heart flutters, his lips slowly tugging into a small smile. Pride be damned, there's nothing like the feeling of forgiveness, no matter who's at fault. 

 

All at once, they turn towards each other and kiss soft and slow, smiling against each other's lips. It's easy to get lost in it, get caught up. They slide together, meeting in the middle, and Jace never wants to lose this. 

 

It isn't easy. They're still them, so it takes a lot of work, but they make the effort  _ anyway.  _

  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


“Oh, is that your boyfriend?” 

 

“Yes, he is.” 

 

“Oh, I just knew it!” The woman beams at him. “The way you two look at each other; it has to be love.” 

 

Jace smiles politely at the woman. “Oh no, you're mistaken. I actually hate him.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This was short and fun, so here. Thanks so much for reading. SOBS says Jimon Rights. 
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading! Don't hesitate to drop off some kudos and please leave a comment; I do so love them. 
> 
> Ta! 
> 
> -SOBS


End file.
